What do you mean this end of the market? Its hardly like £5k is the bottom of the pile. There are a load between £5-6k and anything over that is either low mileage, mint or dreaming.
E36 M3 Evo vs. Non
- Thread starter MikeHiow
- Start date
Soldato
You originally stated '5k', now you are talking about 5-6k, which is it?
Well you can hardly say that there are loads of good one between £5k and £6k but none for £5k.
I have never really looked into aftermarket LSD's as since I drove my first LSD equipped car, I think the E55 has been the first car without one!
I have heard of Quaife stuff before and thought they should be o.k., didn't they do a lot of OEM LSD's? What other options did you find?
Soldato
I wouldn't say there were any 'good' ones between 5-6K, so I'm not sure where we are going here 
What are your requirements, is this just a track toy or your daily driver? 'I' wouldn't buy any of those under 7k if I wanted it to get me to work everyday, even then I would be concerned.
If this is just a track toy, you'll be ripping out the suspension, brakes, interior etc and overall bodywork condition isn't a major concern. In that case spend 5k on the car and 5k again on prepping it.
What are your requirements, is this just a track toy or your daily driver? 'I' wouldn't buy any of those under 7k if I wanted it to get me to work everyday, even then I would be concerned.
If this is just a track toy, you'll be ripping out the suspension, brakes, interior etc and overall bodywork condition isn't a major concern. In that case spend 5k on the car and 5k again on prepping it.
Caporegime
I wouldn't say there were any 'good' ones between 5-6K, so I'm not sure where we are going here
You're smoking crack. Plenty of "good" E36 M3's available from £5k-£6k.
Lol?
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
I think that very much depends on your idea of 'good'. Some might argue there are virtually zero good ones left bar the garage queens. They are getting on for almost 15 years old, after all.
He's the only one in this thread with any practical M3 Evolution ownership experience. And given his was 5 years old I doubt the reliability has improved with a further 8 years of age!
Caporegime
Hence why I said "Good" and not Mint.
Plenty that are both mechanically sorted and are in good condition body wise. Of course they might need a suspension or perishables refresh, but I'd expect nothing less on a car of that age.
When I was looking (which was 2 years ago now) £6-7,000 would have got me something I'd have been happy to call mint.
Plenty that are both mechanically sorted and are in good condition body wise. Of course they might need a suspension or perishables refresh, but I'd expect nothing less on a car of that age.
When I was looking (which was 2 years ago now) £6-7,000 would have got me something I'd have been happy to call mint.
Caporegime
In this case its a relative term imho.
The E55 has to have one of the largest dollops of torque, too? I've been thinking about an E55 but the idea of 350Nm+ per tyre seems :\
Is it frustratingly often that it will lose traction under hard acceleration?
Caporegime
[TW]Fox;17571603 said:
Of course it can. I'm not saying it's collapsed or doesn't work, I'm saying it would be on a list of jobs to make the car as-new. That's not to even say it might not have been done already.
When you buy a 15 year old car, you expect to have to get mechanically involved at some point, it's par for the course.
Caporegime
[TW]Fox;17570936 said:
Like this?
Description says it's a BMW 325, as it goes.
This wouldn't be a daily driver for me, but it isn't going to be a track weapon either as I want to keep the luxuries (well, interior 
).
I see exactly what paradigm is saying - it is much the same with buying a good DC2 Integra - it will need bushes replacing at a minimum, and probably suspension too just because they are all at least 10 years old and 99% of them are over 60k miles. That isn't to say the car can't be good without the aforementioned treatment, just it could do with it to freshen it up.
).I see exactly what paradigm is saying - it is much the same with buying a good DC2 Integra - it will need bushes replacing at a minimum, and probably suspension too just because they are all at least 10 years old and 99% of them are over 60k miles. That isn't to say the car can't be good without the aforementioned treatment, just it could do with it to freshen it up.
But presumably it would for your girlfriend if its replacing the Mondeo?
No, she is (well, we are) getting a lovely 
rolleyes 1.6 MK2 Focus tomorrow. This will be her daily driver.
rolleyes 1.6 MK2 Focus tomorrow. This will be her daily driver.
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So it would simply be a 4th car for you?
Why not just flog the Focus and the track banger mouldy 325i thing and put the M3 money with it and buy something great for what, £15-20k (Focus + M3 budget + 325i money) that is capable of everything you want, and fun around the ring?
Having a huge collection of ancient cars seems a bit pointless when you could have something really great if you put your mind to it.
Why not just flog the Focus and the track banger mouldy 325i thing and put the M3 money with it and buy something great for what, £15-20k (Focus + M3 budget + 325i money) that is capable of everything you want, and fun around the ring?
Having a huge collection of ancient cars seems a bit pointless when you could have something really great if you put your mind to it.
it does fine in a straight line, the auto box allows quick getaways with minimal slip unless you absolutely hammer it off the line, either way its easy to judge and get easily repeatably sub 5.0 seconds sprints to 60.
Its not a cornering king and you can't push it that extra 10% that I would if it was M car, but thats also mainly because feedback and feel is very minimal compared to an M car, so you don't really feel compelled to. This make it sound kind of bad, but the torque wave you get it once its straightened up out of the corner is something else and makes up for a lot.
Soldato
And you said I was on crack? Get real.
I said I didn't see any good ones for 5-6k, being my opinion. And now you say good condition counts as including a full suspension refresh. So when its my opinion I am on crack, but yours is prefectly valid? Yea ok
The ST has gone. The 1.6 replaces this as our 'family car' which means it also becomes 'her' daily driver - making the Mondeo redundant.
Thus the Mondeo as of now is my sole means of transport if she is out, but will be replaced with something fun for me to boot around in. I want something less expensive than the ST for this task, that I can worry about less.
The 'ring thing is just a passing thought, and is what gave me the idea of the M3 - in all reality, it is barely even a factor in which car I buy, which does detract from the M3 somewhat.
I'll probably just end up with the RX8 I've always wanted, I just keep trying to find other possibilities until I do make my mind up
The 325 is not, and will never be road legal and is used for off-road autotests only - this makes it irrelevant in all of this.
Thus the Mondeo as of now is my sole means of transport if she is out, but will be replaced with something fun for me to boot around in. I want something less expensive than the ST for this task, that I can worry about less.
The 'ring thing is just a passing thought, and is what gave me the idea of the M3 - in all reality, it is barely even a factor in which car I buy, which does detract from the M3 somewhat.
I'll probably just end up with the RX8 I've always wanted, I just keep trying to find other possibilities until I do make my mind up
The 325 is not, and will never be road legal and is used for off-road autotests only - this makes it irrelevant in all of this.